Defenders of the Earth
by crushed-lilyflower
Summary: Doctor/Rose: From the scene in Journey's End and continued. "She felt that familiar thrill through the pit of her stomach. She had been wrong, that day on Bad Wolf Bay. It wasn’t over…the adventure was just beginning..."


**A/N: This is told mainly from Rose's POV, from the scene at the end of Journey's End and continued into their future. I felt a bit icky after the finale, and so wrote this to satisfy myself and others! I hope it helps, because I think a lot of people felt a little confused by how things ended between them. Reviews are love :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

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She knew, before the doors were open, before she'd even set foot on the sand, she knew where he'd brought them back to. It was the feeling of the place; everything she'd felt that day two years ago, as though life was no longer worth living when the one she loved was torn apart from her, all of that was rising up inside of her once again. How could he bring them back here? She swallowed, willing herself not to cry, and tried to catch the Doctor's eye. He carefully avoided it, and continued to monitor something imaginary on the screen of the Tardis' controls. Rose stepped slowly over to the doors, hardly daring to believe that she would be back on this godforsaken beach again…and then she was standing on the sand, gazing out at the waves washing onto the shore of Dårlig Ulv Stranden. The other Doctor…the nameless man, and her mother were talking just a few yards ahead, almost without a care in the world. But he wasn't her Doctor. And now, after everything they'd been through, and after everything she'd done to get back to him…he'd taken her back? How _dare_ he? She spun around, dread filling her up from the inside, threatening to overwhelm if he'd left her already…but he was stepping out of the Tardis; Donna at his side. Rose took in a quick breath when she saw that they were slightly faded, their essence tampered with, as if something was telling them that Donna and the Doctor belonged to their world, and that Rose belonged to this world. She tried to keep calm and asked desperately;

"Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?"

The Doctor nodded, "You're back home."

Home? _Home? _Didn't he understand?

"—and the walls of the world are closing again," Donna continued. "Now that the reality bomb never happened. It's dimensional retro closure; see I really get that stuff now."

"I spent all that time tryin' to find you!" Rose gasped, her voice trembling, "I'm not goin' back now!"

"But you've got to," the Doctor told her sadly, seriously, pleadingly. He took several steps closer. "Because we saved the universe; but at a cost. And the cost is him," his eyes flickered to the other Doctor…the nameless man. "He's destroyed the Daleks, he committed genocide; he's too dangerous to be left on his own."

"You made me," the other Doctor spoke up angrily.

"Exactly. You were born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge." The Doctor's eyes flashed, and Rose saw a hidden shadow of his past. His expression softened as he looked back into her eyes, "remind you of someone?"

She looked away to the sea…he couldn't be doing this to her…she knew what he was going to say, and she hated him for it…

"That's me, when we first met," the Doctor continued. She looked up once again; she could hear the contempt in his voice, that hatred in his voice that would never fully disappear. '_When we first met.' _It was as if he'd taken her back to the beginning, and she was being given a chance to start again. "And you made me better. Now you can do the same for him--"

"But he's not you," she cut across, her eyes filled with tears. She had to make him understand, that she wanted _him, _not a copy, not a replica, she wanted the real him.

"He needs you," the Doctor replied. "That's very me."

"But it's better than that though," Donna said. "Don't you see what he's trying to give you? Tell her, go on."

Donna was speaking to the nameless man, and Rose forced herself to face him. She felt a pang from deep within her when their eyes met; it was just like looking into her Doctor's face.

"I look like him, I think like him, same memories, same thoughts…same everything," he said to her. The way he spoke, how he tilted his head and buried his hands deep in his trouser pockets…his mannerisms were identical. "Except I've only got one heart."

"Which means?" she asked shakily.

"I'm part human," he said. "Specifically the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler." She started, the way he said her name…it was just like the way the Doctor used to. Her eyes flickered between his, searching them… "I could spend it with you…if you want," he shrugged slightly.

A life together…just one life…

"You'll gr-grow old at the same time as me?" she repeated.

"Together."

Her heart leapt at that simple word. This man was giving himself to her completely; he was offering her the life she'd always dreamed of. Overwhelmed, she shook her head with disbelief and took a gentle step towards him. She reached out, and felt the gentle thud of his single heart beneath her fingertips…suddenly from behind them the Tardis recalled her to the here and now, and when she looked up at him questioningly the Doctor said sadly, "We've gotta go. This reality's sealing itself off. Forever."

"But," she ran after him, she had to stop him. She couldn't watch him leave again. "It's still not right! Because the Doctor's—still _you."_

"And I'm him," he bowed his head to the other Doctor.

"Alright, both of you answer me this," she told them. "When I last stood on this beach, on the _worst _day of my life…" she stressed the word to emphasise the pain he was causing her again. "What was the last thing you said to me?" She was looking at _her_ Doctor, she needed _him_ to tell her…she needed to hear those unspoken words. Silence. "Go on, say it!"

He swallowed, and she could see he was holding back tears. "I said Rose Tyler."

She bowed her head, fighting the disappointment. "Yeah, and how was that sentence gonna end?" she prompted.

He shook his head slightly, speaking as though every word cost him the world, "it doesn't need saying."

Why couldn't he say it? What was stopping him? Desperately, she turned to the other Doctor.

"And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"

He touched her arm and leant in to her, clouding her senses, and whispered, _"I love you." _

Looking into his eyes she saw such sincerity; perhaps this was man she'd been looking for for two years. A mixture of emotions flitted across his face, fear, guilt for what he had done, confusion, anger, passion and countless others…and she knew what to do to make him better. She kissed him with everything she had, with all the feeling that had been built up inside of her with they'd been apart; she poured her longing, her relief and all her love for him into this one kiss. And then she realised it _was _him, it must be, because she wouldn't feel like this if it weren't. As if she had come home. And then she heard it; the Tardis fading away to another dimension…forever. Breaking away from him, she saw it disappear and felt it take a piece of her with it, a gut wrenching pang through her heart as she saw it leaving her. She ran over, knowing it was no use…and stood stock still, not knowing what to think or where to turn. He was alone, now. But the Doctor who was still with her, he stepped over to her, and took her hand. The same hand she'd held a hundred times before…dare she look up? Would she see the Doctor, or a stranger with the same face? She forced herself to meet his gaze, and when she did she felt such unexpected serenity. They looked at each other for several long moments, taking each other in, and then she turned to trace a line over his jaw, moving closer to him, her eyes never leaving his face…

"It _is _you," she breathed. "B—but…he's gone…"

"He's here," the Doctor shook his head. "I'm here, Rose. And everything I feel, he feels too."

And in that moment she realised something…her Dad, when she saw her Dad from this world, she didn't see a clone, or a stranger. She saw Pete Tyler. And right now she could see the Doctor.

"I don't have the Tardis, we-we can't travel," he said sadly. "Or my screwdriver--"

"No," she smiled. "You're just you."

He beamed, and she traced the line back up to his cheek to cup his face, watching him lean into her touch; "I love you, Doctor."

The corners of his mouth twitched, "quite right too."

She leant against him, breathing him in, and he pressed his lips to hers once again, one hand tangled in her hair which was whipping around their faces, the other hand pulling her closer…and when they broke apart, she drew in a deep breath, and said quietly;

"What now? Now that it's all over?"

"Over?" he quirked an eyebrow, "Rose Tyler; it's only just beginning."

She elicited a shaky laugh, and he took her by the hand, leading her into their future together.

"You really are gonna have to get a mortgage now, you know," she teased.

"Oh God...that's _disgusting_…"

--

**ONE YEAR LATER**

"Doctor! Doctor, we need you!"

Jake called urgently through the door to where he sat carefully dismantling a piece of alien technology they'd salvaged from the recent Cybermen invasion. There was no particular purpose to the project other than to satisfy his own curiosity. The Doctor was starting to adjust to his new universe. It seemed that, although Rose had foreseen the Darkness, and this parallel had been ahead of the other where Davros was concerned, other events which he'd lived through once kept on coming back to him at random moments in time. It kept him on his toes; he was glad that it still kept him guessing; even with all his knowledge he couldn't predict the universe's next move. Looking up from his work agitatedly, he took off his glasses and bounced into Jake's office next door. Although he'd not instantly taken to the idea of working there, since he and Rose had been at Torchwood together, the whole organisation had taken a real turn for the good. Captain Jack would've been proud, he thought with a smile.

"What's the problem, Jakey boy?"

Rose was there, leaning over a computer and typing rapidly with a frown etched over her features.

"We've detected alien spacecraft moving into the atmosphere," Jake informed the Doctor. "Rose is trying to get in touch."

"A transmission's coming through," she murmured to Jake, who was standing by her shoulder.

The Doctor cleared his throat, and Rose looked up with a coy smile. "Looks like trouble."

"Brilliant!" he grinned, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. Rose loved that smile; it was _his _smile. The one he wore whenever there was a crisis, and he knew exactly how and when he would solve it. The one he wore in the face of an emergency, when he knew he was going to save everyone and everything in danger.

"It's the Sycorax," Rose added, finally breaking eye contact with her Doctor.

The Doctor paused in the act of bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, slightly taken aback. "Again?"

"For the first time in this world, remember?" Rose corrected him softly. He climbed right over the desk she was working at to stand behind her and see what was occupying her attention. Though fuzzy with interference, the Doctor could just about make out the image of a lone Sycorac, talking to the earth;

"_We are here. We will not leave until Planet Earth is ours. We come with weapons, resistance is futile, we have already sent down enforcements--"_

Out of nowhere, came the sound of an explosion, followed by a hundred guns all aimed in one direction. So they'd attacked Torchwood first…all military bases…Rose looked up at the Doctor, eyes wide with fear, to see that reassuring wink she'd been hoping for.

"Oh, let's put a stop to this, shall we?" the Doctor said quickly. Rapidly flicking a switch and inhibiting their message, he grabbed Rose by the hand and led her out of the office at a jog, Jake summoning their team to follow up. She felt that familiar thrill through the pit of her stomach. She had been wrong, that day on Bad Wolf Bay. It wasn't over…the adventure was just beginning. These were the events which had followed his regeneration, the Sycorac invasion…they were back at the start. They ran through several doors until they arrived at the scene of the commotion; the Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, and leaned slightly back, his eyes darting wildly across the room.

"Hi," he said, as thought pleasantly conversing about the weather. He stepped right into the space between the Torchwood employees and the Sycorac invaders, his hands behind his back, and directly addressed the Sycorac who appeared to be in charge. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler. I'm 904 years old. I'm part human, part Time Lord. _Well, _strictly speaking…_well,_ technically I'm from an accidental human/Time Lord biological metacrisis…the point is; we're the defenders of the Earth, and whenever there's danger we're the ones who will be saving everyone on the planet's lives…got a problem with that?"

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**A/N: Hope you like. I've never done any Doctor Who fanfiction before - and I think it shows haha. Reviews please?**


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